I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie, December 8,2017) Movie • Page 2

Very interesting take as I never felt that way watching it but obviously respect that view. I often get in trouble for framing my own trauma in an also light, but I'd argue that her character was one to handle things with humour and grace - the comedic display seemed like an accurate extension of who she was.

That being said, gives me some things to think about. Will probably write more thoughts on that later, but at this point I don't want to equate making light of tragedy as a mishandling of it

 

The film obviously moves past that way of depicting abuse pretty quickly, but I was extremely worried given the earliest scenes with Tonya and Jeff. Still, not enough for me to discredit the entire film but something that’s been on my mind since I watched it. I mostly put it out there because I haven’t seen it spoken about much and I’m curious about other people’s reaction/take away.

 

This is really well put, I did have some of the same worries about the depiction of abuse in the beginning, specifically in the scenes where she breaks the fourth wall as they fight. At some moments I was relatively uncomfortable with the direction the movie could have gone if it kept that up. I think overall it worked because took a more serious tone as the movie progressed and also because it did a good job illustrating how normalized it had become for her to be abused by everyone around her.

I think all of these things would have made for a relatively problematic movie about any other subject, but because this is a problematic / tragic story it works really well.

 

I’m glad the movie didn’t take itself too seriously regarding whether all the plot details were true. I don’t necessarily trust Tonya or her former associates.

 

Really looking forward to this as I keep hearing its tone is “Goodfellas-lite” but I’m wondering if it’s also like Wolf of Wall Street since Robbie was in that too. I was a kid when the incident occurred and it was around the time I started becoming aware of real world events played out by the media. Harding’s 30 for 30 film was great and definitely made me sympathetic towards her.

 

Watching the 30 for 30 now

 

Really, really enjoyed this. I loved how they handled how unreliable Tonya, Gillooly, and everyone else have been in interviews. A lot funnier than I was expecting too.

 

Really enjoyed this.

 

I love that this was basically an episode of It's Always Sunny but real life, Shawn is Mac obviously, Jeff is Dennis, and Tonya is Dee
Allison Janney and Margot Robbie were great of course, Sebastian Stan was also great
I had no idea McKenna Grace from Gifted was in this, she was really good too
it was distracting how much Allison Janney looked liked Edna Mode from The Incredibles
the skating scenes were also beautifully choreographed

I wish they had done more with like how they showed Letterman joking about her, I've never really thought about it before but between Tonya, Amy Fisher , Lorena Bobbitt and of course the big one Monica Lewinsky there was a lot of misogyny in the way stories were portrayed in the 90s

I don't feel like I can properly comment on the domestic violence aspect, they definitely needed to include it but I can understand how the comedic nature can be problematic, personally it only bothers me when it's extraneous or unnecessary to the story but I don't know what someone who's gone through that trauma would think

 

Saw this today and I know I’m a little older than you but the early to mid-90s was the point I started becoming aware of current events and certain stories dominated the news media, particularly the cases of Harding, Fisher, and Bobbitt. I watched the ESPN 30 for 30 doc on Harding and it definitely made me more sympathetic towards her and this movie accomplished the same feat.

For the most part I greatly enjoyed this with the outstanding acting from Robbie and Janney. I loved the dark humor and breaking the fourth wall. Was unaware of the amount of domestic violence so that was hard to watch. The guy who play Shawn was a great comedic foil but when Harding addressed the camera and made “you” responsible for her public condemnation hit me hard considering how even today society easily jumps on a person thrust into the spotlight and makes them the pariah.

 

Loved the performances in this. Like someone mentioned earlier in this thread, this felt like a David O. Russell movie to me. I understand it was necessary, but the superimposing of Robbie's face in the skating scenes was a tad distracting. Not sure how to feel about the handling of abuse/violence in this, but it feels like the movie is aware of its seriousness despite the way it may have portrayed it to match the overall tone. Idk if that makes any sense.

 

Robbie did most of her own skating from what I understand but also Tonya Harding could do tricks that like literally 3 other people can do in the world...so they didn't have much choice I guess

 

Ya I can't really knock the movie for it. I do remember noticing scenes where Robbie was doing the skating herself, which is cool. Ton of credit to her.

 

This bites Scorsese way, way better than people like David O. Russell and Todd Phillips and everyone else bite Scorsese, because it's not really biting Scorsese, it's got it's own rapid-fire stylistic thing going on as well, even though the influence is overt. I liked this way more than I thought I would.

 

I view Goodfellas, Casino, and Wolf of Wall Street Scorsese’s true crime trilogy in terms of tone and presentation and this movie definitely was influenced by it. Don’t consider it a rip-off but a welcome break from traditional bio-pics.

 

It’s not the movies fault but like Ingrid goes west, it’s really hard for me to “enjoy” a movie when I don’t like any (or most) of the characters in it. I get that’s the point and these people did/still exist, it’s just hard for me to enjoy it.

That said I did really like this movie. I didn’t really know anything about this story as i was too young when it happened. Despite not liking the characters I did care about Tonya and sympathize for who she became because of the people around her. People aren’t born bad imo. Unfortunately people grow up in fucked up environments and learn terrible disgusting behaviors and continue the chain. I agree with @Jake Gyllenhaal when she addresses and blames the audience it was a really powerful moment.

I didn’t really find myself laugh at all other than Shawn’s interview with him adamant he went to espionage school.

The performances were incredible obviously. When her mom visited her/that hug/and the rest of that scene made me well up. Also the scene with Margot alone in front of the mirror was so good. Really hope she gets a nom.

Really good movie. Did it’s job. Will watch the 30 for 30 soon

 

This was really good.

 

I had pretty high expectations going in and I was blown away by this.

 

Damn this movie hit me so hard. Especially the whole condemning of the audience bit. The big thing I took away from this was that the film was challenging the way we perceive people versus the truth of the actual situation.

Most of this film happened either before, or around the time of my birth. I grew up always having this idea of Tonya Harding as a villain in the back of my head, from the bits I picked up from pop culture and the way my parents talked about her. So much so that until this movie started I had no idea she was from Portland, I grew up skating in the same rinks as her.

The scene towards the end with her skating at the Lloyd Center mall rink really cemented that in my head, just seeing her surrounded by the mall food court was just so jarring for me since I'm so familiar with that place.

Definitely gonna change the way I go about perceiving public figures in cases like these. Give Margot Robbie all the fucking awards.

 

This was okay. I expected it to be terrible, but there are a few funny moments. Partly by design, Harding is less interesting than the characters around her.

 

thought it was a solid B/B-. the uncanny valley felt pretty weird at certain times and it tries so hard to be a scorcese movie to the point of being off-putting, but the performances across the board were pretty stellar.

 

It is a mistake to ape Scorsese in that way. It makes you want to watch The Wolf of Wall Street again.

 

Oh wow I fucking loved this! When I first saw the trailer I knew this was going to be up my alley. Tonya Harding is the perfect person to do a movie on...and I thought it was executed perfectly.

I liked this more than lady bird and three billboard and post.... on the same level of phantom.

This review might be based on the subject matter more than anything...but what can I say. This movie hit me perfectly

 

How can you say that? I thought Tonya Harding was a perfect character to base a movie on. Thought her whole life was fascinating as hell

 

In the movie, she is mostly framed as passive and the action occurs around and to her.